The Saga Of Mary Jane – 36

Sam started back in panic. “You know, before I came here, I used to love reading the stories of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. They were so instructive, and I was thinking of becoming a new age Sherlock Holmes. The stories would haunt me, and occupy my dreams, and it often seemed that they appeared like ghosts in my consciousness.”

“Perhaps, you appeared like a ghost in those tales of fiction”, laughed Vivien. “Yes, a ghost is what you were, and like a ghost that has come to the modern age, let’s send you back …….. back …… back …….”

“I am the ghost”, muttered Sam, and seemed to fall asleep.

He lay there still, for a long time. Poison Ivy and Frodo were far too petrified to move and touch him.

Suddenly, his eyes opened, and all that they could see, was the whites of his eyes.

“Yes, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were discussing a new case,” mumbled Sam in a rambling voice. “They were engaged in an intense discussion, and Sherlock was addressing Dr. Watson in his usual elegant voice. The door creaked open. They did not notice it. A strange figure in white was at the entrance. Long hair tumbled down to its white shoulders, and it stared at them through the voids that were its eye sockets. It stood there a long time, hoping to be noticed, and when it realized that the two were oblivious of its presence, a low, moaning sound emerged from its mouth. The two turned to the creature, and then Sherlock remarked that they seemed to be at the beginning of a new case – The Case of The Shrieking Banshee. It was most interesting, he thought, as he walked up to examine the creature closely. The moaning sounds continued, and became a shrieking crescendo. Dr. Watson had taken refuge behind a sofa, and Sherlock was examining the ghostly creature, with much interest.”

“You are a stubborn little fellow”, thought Merlin, realizing that Sam was digging into his subconscious with all his might. He wanted to avoid this ‘journey’ at all costs, and was fighting with all the might his mind could bring.

Merlin waved his hand at Sam, and Sam’s body went into convulsions. The causal thinker might assume that flecks of foam appeared at the corners of his mouth, but no, nothing of the sought happened. He just went into convulsions, and then lay still. His breath was calm, and a slight smile spread across his face.

He had gone back through the ages, and was lying in the soft grass, smoking a pipe. As the smoke rings drifted towards the blue sky, he was conscious of the warm sunshine flooding his body with goodness and strength.

“Life is good”, he said. “I do love the sunshine of the Shire. It is the best that anyone can get anywhere.”